When you hear that someone volunteers at a dog shelter, you’d most probably imagine them taking the dogs for walks, feeding, cleaning and caring for them. However, it takes more than that to run an animal welfare organisation. There is a huge variety of volunteer teams that don’t involve physically interacting with our dogs! One of those teams in SOSD is Team Digital, where volunteers help to maintain our web-related platforms like our website and more. This is an incredibly crucial role as our website is the main platform where people are able to find all the information they need about our shelter and our dogs.
William Ong is one of those volunteers, and also the IC of Team Digital. In the year of 2014, William’s SOSD volunteer journey began when he came across a call for volunteers to maintain the website while browsing through the website, a very convenient coincidence. As time went on, the focus of his responsibilities shifted when he took on the role of Team Digital IC, working on more IT matters within the organisation as a whole. It is by no means an easy task, says William, but he is glad to have a great team supporting him! When asked about his experience thus far, William had the following to say:
“The experience was awesome so far! I feel I have grown so much since then, not physically of course!… I’m grateful for a lot of things – the people I worked with, all the lessons I’ve learnt and even the challenges and struggles I had. Hopefully, with my experience and knowledge, I can make a positive change.”
After being a volunteer for the past 7 years, which is definitely an impressive achievement, we were curious to know what kept William going and what his biggest takeaways were .
“Even though I’m a shy and quiet person, I learnt that I have to step out of my comfort zone. I got to meet a lot of new people in the organisation. It’s so fun to meet people who believe in the same cause (Adopt, Don’t Shop) as me. I learnt a lot from them and at the same time, I try my best to share my knowledge as well.”
William also had these words of wisdom to share with anyone who is thinking of volunteering:
“Volunteers are important for non-profit organisations. In a sector where the amount of work is not proportionate to the amount of staff, volunteers increase our power, lighten the workload, and increase our social impact. Thus your commitment and dedication are needed when it comes to volunteering. Only commit when you are ready!”
We’d like to take a moment to appreciate William, and all the volunteers like him who work tirelessly in the background that we don’t often see from an outside perspective.
Should you be keen to learn more about volunteering opportunities in SOSD, please visit https://sosd.org.sg/join-us.
